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WeaverTech
WeaverTech is a term used to describe mystical gadgets not bound by the strictures of Sphere magick, however not as versatile. Overview Triatic magic, like any Changing Breed, is a symbiosis of spirit and flesh, and not limited by beliefs - if anything, it's powered and governed by the spirit's beliefs, which are anyone's guess. Weaver fetishes are often indistinguishable from high technology. In the absence of like-minded forces, however (other spirits, members of the Changing Breeds, even those few mages with worldviews sympathetic to the Gaian pantheon, etc.), Weaver-magic withers and dies, as would a flower deprived of water or sunlight. One example of a piece of WeaverTech comes in the idea of a certain type of prosthetic hand. This prosthetic is an intricate, many-fingered hand spun from crystalline fibers, an amalgam born from the union of carefully-crafted silicon-and-steel moving parts with a sensitive spider-spirit, or perhaps even an alien creature perfectly camouflaged as a perfect flesh-and-blood replica coexisting across both planes and capable of reaching into the Umbra. Taken from this spiritual direction, you have the makings of a Weaver fetish. Hardware *'Animus Energy Alternative Adapter': An accidental offshoot if research involving cybersystems, this squat, sinister unit was originally designed as a cardiovascular backup – a piece of drop-in metabolic machinery serving as a go-between bridging biological and machinery energy sources, setting up a mutual recharge cycle in much the same way as an automotive alternator. The adapter is cabled, complex, and crafted from a blue-black nitinol-titanium alloy, resembling something out of a Gigeresque gallery. It is strangely reminiscent of a human heart, and is docked in an eight-foot column of translucent plasteel filled with a weak saline solution similar to those found in a sensory deprivation tank. An unaided human adrenal system may be coupled with an adapter, but is quickly outpaced (and fatally overstressed) by its energy consumption. *'Armalite-Steyr AS-115 Assault Rifle': This carbine rifle comes in a bullpup configuration (although conventional stocks are also available), and is chambered for high velocity aluminum 7.62 mm caseless ammunition (or any .308 cartridge for rare civilian models). The carbine has four settings: safe, semi-auto, three-round burst and full-auto. Despite its light weight, an ingenious mercury-column compensation system reduces spray. Equipped with an electronic ignition system in the place of its more traditional firing-pin-driven counterparts for underwater and deep-space operation, more than 98% of the rifle is crafted from a unique injection-molded polymer. Although the AS-115 will not pass through a metal detector unnoticed, it is easily broken down into a handful of small metallic parts not readily distinguished to the untrained eye as belonging to a firearm. Approximately one out of every twelve rifles (one per platoon) comes equipped with an underslung M203 grenade launcher. *'Bionics/Cybernetics': So-called 'basic' bionic/cybernetic modifications (that is, those without subsidiary spiritual attachments (Gifts et al.)) artificially augment physical and/or perceptual attributes. Of somewhat more scholarly interest in recent years is the introduction of 'chipware' – miniaturized units of throwaway memory, hardwired directly into the lower mnemonic centers surrounding the cerebral cortex and stem. Although unimaginably expensive, prohibitively difficult to come by, and often incompatible with individual brain chemistry, this cunningly-guised biotechnology offers a quick and comparatively easy alternative to the tedium of subliminal learning or by-the-book instruction. In no cases will a shapeshifter's body accept an implant that isn't a fetish – even Technomagick is capable of adapting to the half-spirit nature of the Changing Breeds. Physical dangers of overpressure pale before the psychological. Radical bionic replacement (or installation of additional limbs) invariably results in unwanted side effects, from psychosomatic discomfort (cramping/muscle seizure, severe migraines, phantom pain) to irreparable emotional trauma (antisocial behaviors, autism, withdrawal, even catatonia) to subtler internal complications (such as the onset of Parkinson's Syndrome). *'Bottomless Magazines': Crafted from a nondescript matte-black alloy, these are made from standard high-capacity autopistol magazines, and must be tailored to specific makes and models of firearms. Identical in every way to their counterparts save for the lack of load indicators, they never run out of ammunition for the duration of the firefight in which they were loaded. *'Breakneck Overthruster': This intricate fist-sized mass of cable and chrome interfaces easily with any air-, land-, or sea-based propulsion system due to being mated with turbine collars, fuel intake valves, and/or other electromechanical modules suitable to its target platform(s), coming pretty close to perpetual motion. This awesome technofetish augments the efficiency and output of by at least a factor of three, stretching the limits of believability. Miraculous as this device might seem, it quickly outpaces even the most sophisticated mundane components; with a maximum lifetime of two or three hours (somewhat longer if uses are short-lived and/or widely-spaced) before system-wide failure effectively disables the host vehicle. *'Cerebral Conditioning System': These devious little items, each no larger than the head of a match, are an experimental union of several pioneering technologies. Fiber-optic shunts piggybacked directly onto the surface of the brain are used to stimulate pain and pleasure centers (in accordance with obedience and disobedience, respectively) during the first few weeks of conditioning. Microdiffusers tied to the recipient's glandular system time-release mild narcotic agents, pituitary extracts, and adrenal additives directly into the spinal column. Inner-ear implants emit carefully-selected subharmonics of the 443 Hz tone observed to induce susceptibility to suggestion, which is clearly audible to those with heightened senses, but difficult to pinpoint. *'Cornerstones': When built into the foundations of buildings, these cubes of grey stone (some of which bear peculiar engravings) bind a sympathetic spirit into the structure's Umbral manifestation. This stowaway presence often takes up a cohabitant relationship with the building's original "tenant"; in many cases, the Building-spirit is subsumed and/or replaced altogether. *'DERVISH (DExterous Remote Vehicle, Ishapore Series)': Based on a full-body waldo design for HAZMAT and hostile-environment applications, this state-of-the-art feat of mechanical engineering appears at first glance to be a metallic mockup of an approximately 140 cm tall human skeleton. Networks of cables, pneumatic pistons, and microservos run along the alloyed 'bones,' and redundant ocular sensor arrays give the 'head' a rather disturbingly skull-like appearance. The DERVISH vehicle, through a complex series of joystick grip-actuators and stirrup-pedals, potentially affords an operator full motor control of a remote set of limbs and sensors. Telemetry with the head-mounted audio and visual recorders (which extend into ultraviolet (night-vision) and infrared (thermal) spectra) provides a virtual real-time what-you-see-is-what-you-get navigator's interface. In a pinch, the DERVISH may even be used in combat; its four-fingered hands (the fourth is an opposable thumb) are capable of balling into fists or open-handed slaps, as well as picking up and operating whatever objects and/or weapons prove necessary to the task at hand. *'Easy Money': Regardless of when, where or how this money is spent, every penny will somehow end back where it started – circulating through local/remote banks, merchants, miscounted change, invalid transactions, fortuitously dropped bills, even subtle computer errors, until the exact sum returns to its spender's pockets, distinguishing marks, serial numbers and all. The cash always finds its way home, unless physically destroyed, in which case and equivalent number of differently-denominated bills and/or lines of credit are returned. It's only good for one refunded spending spree – after that, it's simply money. *'Gyrojet Pistol': Although self-propelled rocket ammunition technology existed as early as World War II, it was shelved by most nations after preliminary analysis showed the projectiles to be impractical and unsafe. However, desperate times often necessitate desperate measures. Two competing corporations have submitted gyrojet prototypes for the military market's perusal; Heckler & Koch's SRP (still being tested)and the Israeli Military Industries (IMI)'s Vanguard (available in limited production). The Vanguard, a (marginally) handheld sidearm similar in size but heavier than its predecessor (the IMI Desert Eagle), sports a fully-shrouded 6" barrel and slabside profile. Its twin-spring launcher works in conjunction with a delayed-thrust mechanism to ignite rockets after (and only after) they have cleared the barrel. Expansion of this design into a gyrojet rifle is unlikely; for the size and weight, you're better served using a LAW or similar device. Nonetheless, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is currently considering the 12.7 mm Sagittarius as a possible successor to the 9 mm Parabellum. This news, accompanied by reports of newly-developed smartweapon and microelectronic guidance systems, may make the proverbial "bullet with your name on it" a terrifying reality. *'Metamorphosis Inhibitors': These cruel, often microtechnological implements – digital wristbands, latent intravenous agents, subdermal implants and the like – force their wearers into a single form (generally Homid, making it difficult and/or excruciatingly painful for them to shift into others. Some few units are known to exist which restrain painlessly; sadly, they are rare. *'Myrmidon Exoskeleton': These anthropomorphic harnesses, built on ultra-lightweight carbon-composite frames and microsecond-response myomer fiber networks represent mankind's latest attempt to take the fight back to the Changing Breeds. These man-sized assault vehicles, although considerably slower and clumsier than their furred-and-fanged counterparts, are more than capable of holding their own in a fight against the supernatural. It operates on crude electrostimulus from a trained pilot, handles more like a forklift than a piece of Japanese animation, and bristles with armor as well as armaments (choice of arm/shoulder-mounted .50 caliber turrets, 30 mm cannon or even rocket launchers). Tempest-hardened, silver-alloyed, and aquatic variants may also exist. *'Noetic Navigation Interface': Although noetic technology is still decades away from being practical or even reliable, its earliest incarnation – a convoluted and fragile series of electronic contacts, encephalogram translators, and sensitive switching elements – does permit elementary mind-driven motion. For reasons not yet fully understood, noetic systems are more responsive to left-handers. *'Raiden Unit': These artifacts consist of half-dollar zinc inserts crafted to fit into the palms of both hands. These inserts branch into hundreds – thousands – of copper filaments, equally spaced in an unseen mesh around the wearer's body, which terminate in a three-pound rectangular controller worn against the small of the back. All components are exceedingly brittle and corrosion-sensitive, and must be carefully cleaned and maintained lest accidental discharge occur. The Raiden unit gathers and focuses ambient electricity (atmospheric ionization, static charge, even the surface tensions from nearby liquids), projecting and/or releasing it upon command. The resulting shock is virtually like being hit by a lightning bolt. *'Semiorganic Storage Elements': This miracle of biotechnology sounds considerably more impressive than it seems at first glance; a standard SoSto appears to be nothing more than a glass-cased cube, almost twelve inches to the side, lined with honeycombs of an unremarkable off-white calcified substrate. When exposed to a weak electric charge, each cell in the semicrystalline matrix can be induced to store "zero" (charged) or "one" (neutral) nearly indefinitely. Coupled with the correct hardware, the resin becomes functionally equivalent to modern transistor-driven memory – but entire orders of magnitude smaller and more energy-efficient, thanks to the physical properties and complex geometry unique to the body-centered cube lattice. Mass production and parallelization techniques mated with these innovations may well make effectively limitless fast-access desktop storage a reality by the turn of the century. Further explorations into the next obvious application of this non-silicate-based technology – simple-cellular organic storage elements, gated logic, even programmable bioprocessors – are already underway, including fungus-based storage systems and bacteriological data-carriers. *'ShadowSim Projector': This Shinzui apparatus, cleverly disguised as cutting-edge realtime-rendered VR equipment, actually serves as an elaborate platform for Umbral travel. The unorthodox transport mechanism seems to feed on Weaver-energies, flourishing in places of stasis and structure. The dozen or so functioning models known to exist conform to two basic configurations – conveyances (vehicles identical in appearance to full-body VR cradles) and projectors (hundreds of sophisticated sensor arrays linked to high-fidelity multimedia systems (flatscreen, wide-spectrum speakers, three-dimensional holographic displays, and the like. At least one variant can project Umbral objects into the physical plane. This apparatus allows for stationary transit (the user's body remains suspended in a spheroid rig, leaving her spiritual self to wander the Umbra untethered), removes the need for a reflective surface, and the contingency for disconnection on a moment's notice (through direct command, automated kill-switches, and/or vigilant assistants), instantaneously returning to the material realm at a known point of emergence. *'Toroidal Electromagnetic Repulsor': Short, squat, and surprisingly heavy for its size (60 cm diameter, perhaps 90 kilograms), this space-age repulsor (actually a miniature yttrium-barium arsenide accelerator) is currently the most powerful man-portable electromagnet on the planet. Commonly deployed in dozens, they are beginning to see use by law enforcement and military agencies in the establishment of invisible barriers and secure weapons-free perimeters. When activated, the TER brings an extremely powerful magnetic field into being, which itself is toroidal in shape and extends approximately five meters in every direction from the device's center. Miraculous though the toroid might seem, it does have its drawbacks. The magnet is bipolar; that is, objects introduced into the hole region would be attracted with force equivalent to the repulsion which occurs externally. More to the point, the electromagnet uses up its power supply very quickly; a TER runs on thin-film nickel-cadmium batteries chosen for their robustness and reliability over higher-tech alternatives, but exhausts them in a matter of half an hour of continuous use. Spares must be kept on hand and ready to swap on very short notice. Each TER incorporates a remote activation/deactivation device, to prevent its user from being caught in the magnetic field. *'Vetruvian Harness': These devices provide Garou in Hispo and Lupus forms (and even wolves, if they can be suitably trained) with the semblance and facilities of an additional set of limbs. These expansions, commonly dedicated to their owners, can be configured with a variety of attachments – claws, grasping digits, various tools, or even weapons. Although considerably more flexible than the real thing, these appendages are nowhere near as facile or dexterous. Software *'Akagi Security Screen': Reacts to invasive electronic presences, it floods the network with a number of false copies of its host computer onto the network (with the minimum being 255); these copies are dynamically cycled through virtual memory in smaller sub groups so as not to overburden the original system. This primarily defensive measure is meant to frighten intruders or keep them busy long enough for traces and/or countermeasures to be deployed. *'Conundrum': Using a series of embedded libraries and subroutines, this metavirus introduces a mathematical impossibility into an innocuous-seeming piece of carrier code (computer games, encoded BBS downloads, compressed image files or even electronic mail). This impossibility must be custom-tailored for the system in question, but can lock a computer or entire computer system into a loop of trying to solve an unsolvable problem until it either breaks down or a firewall and/or antivirus is found. *'DoubleFeint': Creates a simulated computer environment, a virtual "ship in a bottle," indistinguishable from reality to all but the most dedicated scrutiny, beneath which its users play an intricate game of information warfare. *'genEsys': This algorithm creates, or at least coaxes chaos into a higher state of order – catalyst to an interpretive process which bridges the gap between potentiality and actuality, spinning structure from shapelessness. Through this miraculous translation from conception to manifestation, dreams (and nightmares) really can come true, or so it seems. Using an iterative series of user-input definitions, specifications, refinements, compilers, optimizers, linkages, and block-transfer computations, any conceivable object(s) (and, to a lesser degree, lifeform(s)) can be patterned detailed, and implemented in the Umbra, though they disintegrate/lose resolution the moment an attempt to get them across the Gauntlet is made. *'MIDAS.EXE': A subroutine that can bypass any financial database, sight unseen, so long as the user can make a physical connection to said database. *'OcClude': This encryptor can encode almost anything – digital or material – to hide it from prying eyes. Using this program, electronic items (files/folders) and/or physical presences (objects, even living creatures) can be removed from sight – removed from view, made harder to find without a code key, hidden from the Desktop, as it were. *'Vulcan AEI (Affordance Engineering Interface) 2.0': This high-level command language gives users direct and intuitive control over any firmware/software-driven system (elementary keyboard input, vocal/microphone direction, virtual touchscreen navigation, etc.) over any system employing firmware/software. The Vulcan AEI must be installed in person, and will not operate over networks. Wetware *'The Dionysian Strain': Whether ingested or introduced intravenously, this mutagen, defixio luporum hominumque, causes severe, wracking pains in a human recipient, whose immune system receives one chance to fend off an hours-long transformation into a monstrous man-wolf form. In all cases of successful infection, the transformation is irreversible, and seemingly robs the infected of speech and reason. Such subjects are invariably hunted down and subdued (or killed) for study and vivisection, but have a complete lack of supernatural forensic evidence, helping to keep up a masquerade between humanity and the Changing Breeds. *'Eternity': A drug in the form of a cosmetic cream, Eternity accumulates in the user's system, and within three to four weeks, resulting in a younger appearance as part of a rejuvenating immortality effect, with the drug having a composition that remains a mystery to modern science. However, the drug has been known to have unpredictable effects on the cognitive and emotional centers of the brain, resulting in longtime users becoming progressively less emotive and more distant, sometimes even becoming sociopaths or serial killers. *'Lucid': Lucid is closely related to its parent drug, mild hallucinogen LAE-23 (lysergic acid ethyl amide, once peddled on the city streets under the questionable name "Pink"). Longterm exposure to this weak, unpredictable drug catalyzes a subtle and not-yet-completely-understood psychoactive process, expanding the user's perceptions in one direction while dulling them in others. *'Medusa': Effervescent, silvery-white, and strangely beautiful, this terrible calcifier, like its Gorgon namesake, is clearly not of this world – nor favorably inclined toward its inhabitants. The frightening concoction (which consists of some otherworldly enzyme seated in a methodacetylene suspension), though liquid, is lighter than air and extremely volatile; it must be stored in an airtight container or it will quickly evaporate. When exposed to flesh, the Medusan simplex springs into life, immobilizing then ossifying all that it metabolizes (skin, hair, nails, even inorganic materials touching the target). *'Plethora': This innocuous pink capsule is a powerful vituperative that tips the reproductive scales in favor of the Garou gene. Whereas the Gift breeds true in approximately one-tenth of Garou/non-Garou couplings, children conceived under the influence of Plethora have proven far more likely to undergo their First Change, at about half or more of such couplings. However, Plethora children (whether Garou or Kinfolk) are almost unilaterally born sterile or disfigured, either physically, emotionally, or both. Further, those few Garou-Garou offspring spawned from this dubious reproductive aid are grotesque monsters. Such travesties are often incapable of living unassisted, and are euthanized at birth. *'RDX': This adaptive neurotoxin (cryptically referred to as "Unweaver" by some spirit-sighted Uktena) is a chemical assassin – a swift, sure agent which, once introduced into a target's bloodstream, ferrets out its strengths, weaknesses, and metabolic idiosyncrasies, then acts accordingly to eliminate with a minimum of muss and fuss. The poison induces cardiac arrhythmia, electrolytic imbalance, and and similar in obvious symptoms in human hosts, resulting in seemingly-natural fatalities, Garou and others of the Changing Breeds succumb to argyrosis (a greyish-bluing of the cornea and nails caused by silver deposits in the body, often fatal), and the only pack of vampires known to have unwittingly fed from human carriers experienced several hours of manic anxiety and insatiable hunger before lapsing into a torpid state. Although fearsome in its ability to adapt and overcome, the retrovirus is in its comparative infancy, and can still occasionally be fought off. *'ReGen 7': Once ingested by a subject possessing the Gaian genome, the ReGen parasite triggers a subtle metamorphosis in its consumer's metabolic and regenerative systems. The host's body quickly and efficiently repairs any and all damage it sustains, short of decapitation or outright disintegration. Such healing can hardly be considered natural, however. The injured body draws from the nearest source of inorganic material, lashing out with grotesque pseudopodia and sealing its wounds with whatever substance is immediately available. The parasite prefers silicon, but will accept metals, plastics, and even radioactive isotopes (in that order). The healing process, though remarkable, is uncomfortable in the extreme – accounts vary from a sickening pulling sensation to excruciating pain exceeding that of the initial wound – and, over a sufficient stretch of time, dehumanizing. (Longtime sufferers experience eventual detachment/psychoses and eventual suicide, or, still worse, become mechanized patchwork zombies, devoted to spreading the alien affliction.) Progenitors are suspected to encode an evolved specimen of this nanogen into its supersoldiers. Further, a watered-down offshoot has taken the form of a retrograde pharmaceutical for humans called "Archangel," inducing superhuman strength, murderous frenzy, and eventually death by adrenal overload. *'Reunion': A modernized and medically-accepted alternative to the Rite of the Kin-Fetch, Reunion is introduced to the individual to be tested in one of three ways: subdermally (manifesting as a lump beneath the skin when injected, possibly discoloring), as a blood-borne indicator (mixed and observed in a test tube), and/or orally (in which case the subject's urine and feces will carry results). When introduced to first-generation Kinfolk blood, or from samples of one who has undergone/will undergo the First Change, the Reunion chemical changes color, texture, and even density, coalescing from a colorless, odorless solvent into a thick mercurial solid. *'"Slipstream"': The Slipstream additive (called pitantjatjarakurunba ("two worlds") by those who guarded its source) appears as a black, mildly reflective liquid not unlike crude petroleum in its natural state. It is typically stored and transported in clay pots or sacks of thick oilcloth. The viscous liquid activates when painted, poured, or otherwise transferred to an object so as to completely cover its surface (e.g., dipping). When distributed in such a manner and given a few hours' time in which to dry (during which it hardens into a gritty reflective coating not unlike mica rock), the object becomes capable of breaching the Gauntlet once (and only once); it may pass through any reflective surface of sufficient size, as would any Garou. Once through, the object in question cannot repeat the translation without a second coating; furthermore, transit is physically stressful and takes its toll on the material(s) transported. Care and precision are essential in preparation; Slipstreamed items with incomplete or blemished coats are fissured or reduced to component parts. *'Triton': This additive is fluorocarbon suspension (in effect, liquid oxygen at room temperature) that, for a short time, replaces the human circulatory system's need to breathe. Triton comes in three forms: bottled liter-sized breathers (by far the most common), time-release gel capsules, and intravenous injections. Using one of these three, a human may function underwater for a period of one to three hours (dependent on body weight and exertion level); subjects must consciously fight off the instinct to breathe, however, or they will be in for an unpleasant surprise (water-filled lungs) upon surfacing. *'Exhibit 338: The Antichrist Serum': This iridescent blue-green fluid is contained within a slender, three-foot cylinder. The fluid is thicker than most liquids, yet not quite solid, remains warm to the touch (37˚ Celsius) in all environments, and is fashioned from some glare-free glass – although, if it is glass, the instrument has not yet been forged that could even scratch its surface. Moe stories than storytellers exist about this fluid, including those who believe it to be no less than a prison for Thrassus Thrice-Damned, Smallest-Talon of the Wyrm itself. References Category:Werewolf: The Apocalypse glossary Category:Weaver